If you happened to be watching TV3 this morning you might have seen an interview with kooky retro enthusiast Vincent Smith or 'Vintage Vinnie' as he's affectionately known. In our March/April issue we brought you inside his riotous retro-styled mews home. Vincent is a vintage furniture addict, a collector and interior designer and is clearly very fond of colour.
To the untrained eye this may look like a chaotic jumble but every item in his home is 100% vintage and has been collected and carefully selected over many years. His living room features green Art Milano/Vico Magistretti armchairs that he sourced from Wildchild Interiors, an orange chair from Retrorumage and an original 1950s formica coffee table.
Vincent has amassed hundreds of original pieces of furniture, art and accessories during his time as a vintage retailer in Dublin where he traveled to the UK and Europe for retro furniture fairs. He has a number of original Harvey Guzzini lamps and pendants and a quirky umbrella and hat stand by Emma Gismondi which holds five identical black bowler hats. "I have one for each day, Monday to Friday," says Vincent. Unexpectedly, an ornate gilt console stands among these whimsical retro pieces.
Everything in the compact kitchen is from the middle of the last century: from the kooky wallpaper to the bright yellow laminate cabinets to the baby blue Bosch fridge.
Every inch of this 30ft long living space is covered head to toe in personality - there's no question.
What do you think? Could you live in this colourful chaos? For more information on Vincent's design services or for location/shoot hire visit www.vintagevincent.net.
